


A Normal Guy

by PagetPaulson



Category: Castle, Criminal Minds
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-14
Updated: 2014-05-14
Packaged: 2018-01-24 19:58:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 15,897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1615211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PagetPaulson/pseuds/PagetPaulson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He jumped, the coffee he had been drinking flying from his hand and splattering all over the floor of the precinct. "Nothing," he rushed out, sending a nervous smile to the younger brunette. "Nothing, it's nothing."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Running her fingers through her dark curls, Emily sat herself in the passenger seat of their FBI issued SUV. The team had been called into New York the very first day of summer, and no one could be more upset. They were all supposed to have off for an entire week because they'd had cases back to back for the past three months, but a call from the NYPD had immediately ruined that for them. "How many times have we been to New York since Christmas," she sighed, sitting back in her seat. "More than five?"

Reid nodded his head, looking up from his file in the backseat. "Seven to be exact."

"And every time is worse than the last," Morgan sighed, turning out onto the busy New York City streets. "How in the hell are there already seven bodies? They found the first one only three days ago."

Emily set her head in her hand, her elbow sitting itself on the open window. "He could already have them and then just kill when he's in the mood."

Ten minutes later, the trio were parking in front of Manhattan's biggest police department and walked in with the rest of their team that had been driving just ahead of them. Reid did his best to stay with his friend's stride as they made their way into the station and towards the elevator, shoving the case file he had been given to by Garcia into his satchel. "The identities of the victims that were found were all women in their mid-thirties who had been missing over almost a year. He could be keeping them the entire time, maybe even killing them beforehand and then freezing them just before dumping."

Emily watched as JJ did her best not to gag at the comment, and she quickly sent a look to the genius. "Not now Reid." A pregnant JJ did not need to be hearing those kind of things.

Stepping out of the elevator, the Unit Chief of their team walked through a web of desks before finding the man that had called them in. "Captain," he nodded, shaking the older man's hand. "SSAIC Aaron Hotchner. These are agents Rossi, Morgan, Prentiss, Jareau and Dr. Reid."

"I'm Captain Roy Montgomery. These are some of my best detectives," he sighed, gesturing behind him to the three that were getting up from their desks. "Kate Beckett, Kevin Ryan and Javier Esposito."

Ryan nodded, raising a hand to the new faces that stood before him, much like Reid had done a moment ago. "Nice to meet you all."

Heads whipped around at the sound of a bang coming from the elevator, and Emily did her best not to crack a smile at the sight of a flustered man practically running from the metal box.

"Captain!" He did his best to take in a breath, both of his hands full of coffee setting against his chest. "The damn elevator! It got stuck again," he rasped, looking to the detectives that he'd been working with. "You know one day I'm going to get stuck in there and suffocate."

Beckett bit her lip to keep from laughing, crossing her arms over her chest. "Castle, it wasn't even stuck the first time."

"Yes it was!"

Montgomery shook his head, closing his eyes to block out the images of his subordinates and their smiling faces. "Castle we have company."

Turning his head to look at the new faces in the department, the author put on a smile. "Very nice to meet you," he breathed, sticking his hand out to the darkest member of the BAU.

Morgan frowned, looking to the other man.

"Oh!" Castle quickly shoved one of the coffees in Beckett's direction before shaking everyone's hand except for Reid, giving him a single nod. "FBI, right?"

Quickly holding up her hand, JJ shook her head. "Can someone quickly show me a bathroom?"

Emily grimaced, shoving her friend in the policewoman's direction. "Morning sickness. Bathroom now." Waiting until the pair ran from sight, the brunette looked to the captain of Manhattan's finest. "So what do you have so far?"

Sitting down on the edge of Beckett's desk, Castle took a drink from his morning coffee. "Something else."

Ryan chuckled, his eyes on the brunette of the Behavioral Analysis Unit's A-team as she turned her back to them to get a look at their whiteboard. "She definitely is."

"Mmhmm."

Castle grinned, not noticing the eyes of Beckett staring at him as she made her way back into their bullpen. "Incredibly sexy."

Beckett rolled her eyes as she walked up to her desk. "Incredibly what?"

He jumped, the coffee he had been drinking flying from his hand and splattering all over the floor of the precinct. "Nothing," he rushed out, sending a nervous smile to the younger brunette. "Nothing, it's nothing." He took a deep breath, practically sprinting into the break room to grab a roll of papertowels. The first meeting was not going how he'd planned.


	2. Chapter 2

Emily bit at the tip of her thumbnail, her narrowed eyes reading over the board for the fifth time. There were absolutely no connections between any of the women. One had two children, three had one and three had never conceived. Two of the women lived in Manhattan and the other five in Brooklyn. They all had different hair colors and cuts, their features and even eye color completely different. There was nothing that tied them together.

"Agent Prentiss?"

The brunette turned at the sound of an only semi-familiar voice, her eyes brightening at the sight of the man who had become so flustered before. "Castle, hi."

He held out a cup of coffee, smiling at the younger woman. "This is for you."

Emily let a smile cross her features, her hand reaching out to take the cup of freshly brewed coffee from the author. "What's this for?"

"I noticed that when I spilled my coffee before, some of it ended up on your shirt."

The chocolate eyed woman frowned, glancing down to her navy blouse and noticing a small dark spot near her hip. "Wow," she laughed, rubbing her fingers over the now dried spot. "I didn't even notice."

Castle chuckled at the amused smile on the younger woman's face, his eyes quickly wandering over to the blond figure that sat before the white board. "Um," he stuttered, watching as the other woman from the FBI quickly shoved two nose plugs into her nostrils. "What exactly is that for?"

Emily took a quick glance to the younger woman on her team before shaking her head, taking a quick sip from her coffee. "Second pregnancy," she nodded, leading the man she was speaking to toward the other end of the bullpen. "If there's a smell that's going to upset her stomach then she puts those in."

"Second pregnancy?" His eyes grew wide. "I can barely handle my one child."

The brunette agent shared a smile with the author. "You have a daughter?"

"I do," Castle smiled, pausing as he watched Emily take another sip from the drink he had gotten for her. "Sixteen years old."

Emily did her best to hold in the laugh that wanted to escape her, her mind quickly going back to when she was that age. "Is she a handful?"

The older man sighed, sitting down along with the beautiful agent on the edge of a random desk they found themselves at. "Exactly the opposite actually. She has straight A's, always finishes her chores and is second in her class."

Emily let her brows raise. "And you can't handle that?"

"She's too good."

Greatly embarrassed by the snort that shot out of her, the ivory skinned woman rolled her eyes and made her way back over to the whiteboard where all of their evidence for the case was posted. "How can a kid be too good?"

Castle quickly followed the brunette woman back across the room, watching as the other FBI agent that had been seated there with nose plugs tight in her nostrils got up to run to the bathroom. "I just always try and get her to get out of her comfort zone, you know? Go to a party, skip a night of studying, stuff like that."

"I'd be thanking God if I had a child like yours," she chuckled. "She sounds great."

His eyes flickered over the features of the younger woman's face. "What about you?" he asked, his head turning to look back to the board just as she had done. "Kids?"

Emily kept her eyes trained on the board before her. "No, not yet. Maybe one day if I'm lucky," she almost whispered. Not giving the older man that was obviously hitting on her open his mouth to reply, the FBI agent spun around to look to her boss walking into the room. "Anything?"

"Nothing yet," he said stiffly, crossing his arms. "Garcia said she'll have a list of all the victims' activities and relatives in the morning if we're lucky. But right now it's seven o'clock, and we still have no hotel reservations."

Emily rolled her eyes. "Is New York seriously so packed that we can't get one damn room?"

Hotch shook his head, straightening out his shoulders. "JJ or I will find something once we're all at dinner. You ready?"

Frowning, Castle stood from his seat and watched as the agents began to pack up their things. "You've been here for an hour? Nothing needs to be done?"

Emily hesitated before shaking her head, sharing a small look with her teammates as JJ came walking back into the bullpen from the restrooms. "Nothing else can be done until our technical analyst gives us those lists. Besides, we already have a working profile."

Esposito looked up from the file on his desk. "You do?"

"Organized, Caucasian and either late twenties to mid-thirties or late forties to fifties."

"Those are two completely different categories," Esposito pointed out.

Beckett shook her head, sitting herself down in her desk chair. "Wait, he's organized? How do you figure?"

"Four of the seven bodies were dumped at construction sites at the dead of night so no one would see him," Morgan nodded. "There was no DNA detected on any of the victims from the killer, and not a footprint was found in the dirt around them. The construction sites were completely wiped down."

Castle frowned. "He?"

"Yes, it's most likely a male. An average woman wouldn't be able to hold that much weight, let alone dead weight, and carry the victims to a car and haul them all the way over to the dump sites."

"Most likely," Castle emphasized, grinning as he stood from his spot on Beckett's desk. "So it could be a woman."

Emily held back her smile at the older man's enthusiasm. "It's extremely unlikely."

"Woman bodybuilder?" he questioned.

Ignoring the looks she was receiving from her team members, Emily just shook her head, her eyes never leaving those of the author. "Even more unlikely."

JJ rolled her eyes at the amused grin the handsome man had on his face. "Ok, I'm hungry."

Morgan chuckled, giving a gentle shove to the blonde's shoulder. "Pregnant JJ is a cranky JJ."

"Shut up," she growled.

Watching as they all got up to leave and go have a team dinner, Castle shook his head. "You know, if there are no hotels that can take you on such short notice I'd be happy to have you all stay at my home."

Beckett frowned. "Castle come on."

"What?" he shrugged, looking to the strangers that stood before him. "It wouldn't be an imposition at all. I can just move my poker night to another place."

"Poker night?"

Castle quickly nodded his head. "Just with a few writer buddies of mine."

Emily bit her lip, seeing the smallest amount of excitement behind the older man's eyes. A writer?

"Thank you," Hotch nodded. "We'll contact you if we're in need of a place to sleep."

The author let out a breath, a smile popping up on his face. "Great."


	3. Chapter 3

Looking up from the book in her lap, Emily smiled. "Poker night ran a little late, huh?"

Castle practically jumped out of his skin at the voice, turning with his hand clutching his heart to see the woman from the FBI sitting on his couch in almost pitch black darkness. "Oh, hi." He threw his keys into the dish by the door and made his way into his apartment. "I didn't think anyone would still be up."

Emily gently shook her head, her hand tugging at her leg and bringing it under her body so he could sit beside her. "Insomnia," she chuckled. "What can you do, right?"

His eyes flickered down to the book she held in her hand. "You're reading my book," he smiled. He didn't think she'd be interested in something he'd write.

"I am," she nodded, smiling as she took a peek at the cover. "A Raging Storm."

"One of my best, if I might add."

Emily let her lips curl into a smile, leaning into the soft cushions of the couch. "I have to say, it was pretty good."

Castle frowned, watching as the younger woman set the book on the coffee table before situating herself back against the cushions. "Was? Meaning you read the entire thing already?"

"I did."

"How long have you been up exactly?"

Emily smirked as she set her head in her hand, her dark eyes looking to the older man that sat with her on the leather couch. "It's one in the morning, right? So three hours."

"Three hours?" The author's jaw dropped, quickly shedding his blazer that he'd been wearing throughout the day. "Your insomnia is that bad?"

"That," she drawled, "and the fact that I had been going over the case file and victimology for two hours prior to that. I didn't really have much else to do."

Castle gave a slow nod of the head, understanding exactly how the brunette was feeling. It was how he felt every time he didn't know how to write the ending of a chapter. "So you stayed up to read my book." A smug look passed over his face, his eyes wandering over the features of the agent's ivory face as her brows furrowed. "I must be pretty interesting."

Emily's eyes crinkled as she gave a breathy sort of laugh, her fingers playing with her dark hair. "Don't have a big head," she chided.

"Oh too late for that."

The brunette pair turned their heads to see a redheaded woman making her way down the stairs, her hand gripping her robe to keep it closed. Emily quickly sat herself up, her hand coming out from it's place holding her head up and her shoulders straightening.

Castle cleared his throat. "Mother."

"Don't mind me," she yawned, waving her hand back to the couple as she opened up the refrigerator. "Just up for a nightcap."

The author shook his head, hearing the small chuckle that escaped the profiler that sat beside him. "Mother it's a little late for a nightcap, don't you think?"

"Not at all."

Castle shared a look with the brunette that had sat up throughout the night to read his book, and stood along with her to make their way towards the staircase that led up to his second floor. "Agent Prentiss, th-"

"Emily," she corrected softly, sneaking a glance at the older man as they walked ever so softly across the beautiful wooden floors.

All he did was smile before looking back to the redheaded woman in his kitchen, making a small mental note to stow away for later. "Emily, this is my mother Martha. She's living here until her new house is furnished which has been taking a little longer than we thought it would, hasn't it?" he whispered, giving a pointed look t the woman who had given him life.

Martha shook her head. "Nine months."

"It's been four years, mother."

Emily bit her lip to keep from laughing at the interaction before running her hands down her covered thighs. "Alright, well I'll see you both tomorrow I guess. Goodnight." Passing by the older man that had let her team into his home, she nodded her head. "Thank you again, Castle."

Receiving a pointed look from his mother, the author of his bestselling Storm and Heat novels chased the younger brunette up the steps. "Emily!"

The brunette agent turned as she made it to the top of the stairs, her hand holding tightly onto the banister as her dark eyes fluttered to find Castle's face in the darkness. "Yes?"

"How did you know I had a daughter?" Seeing the confusion on the beautiful woman's face, he shook his head. "I said I had a child and you immediately assumed it was a girl."

Emily gave a gentle nod of the head before stepping onto the second floor. "I'm a profiler, remember?" With one final goodnight, she left the stunned father of one standing in the center of the staircase, a smirk shaping on her face. He was too easy.


	4. Chapter 4

Castle watched with anticipation as the elevator climbed its way up to the floor he was destined to, his eyes never leaving the red numbers that were flashing above the steel doors. The BAU team had left an hour before him to get there nice and early, knowing that they'd get more information the longer they were using their time to work. He had wanted to leave just at that moment, seeing the brunette woman that was staying with him fixing her bra strap that had fallen towards her collarbone after she had bent down to pick up her briefcase, but Alexis had needed him to help her find her boyfriend's rat that she had accidentally let out when she had turned around to get his food.

He smiled when the doors finally opened, and he practically sprinted out of the metal box and into the bullpen. "Good morning all," he grinned, maneuvering his way around the desks on the floor.

"Hey Castle," the brunette detective nodded, looking up from the file in her hand to see him coming towards her with coffee in his hands. She reached out to take the coffee that the older man got for her every morning, her brow furrowing when he passed right by her. "Castle?"

"Yeah, morning," he smiled, quickly making his way around her and over to the BAU that stood around the white board.

Beckett's jaw clenched, watching as the author almost immediately situated himself beside the brunette woman who had come into their department. Figures.

The forty-two year old man squeezed himself by the genius and Italian on the FBI's A-team before finally standing just beside the brunette agent, taking the coffee he had gotten for her that morning and handing it to her. "Good morning Emily."

Turning, Emily's eyes lit up at the sight of the author with a cup of coffee in his hand. "Is that for me?"

"It is."

Emily took the hot cup with a smile, giving a grateful nod of the head as she took a sip. "Wow this is amazing," she laughed. "Thank you Castle."

Morgan cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his muscular chest as he looked to the pair that had seemed to be getting cozy during their stay there. "So? Where's ours?" he only half joked, watching as the author's eyes widened at the question.

"Oh! Well I could only carry so many at a time, you know? So I'm having the rest delivered."

"You're having a coffee shop deliver to the precinct?" Ryan shook his head, sitting back in his desk chair. "You've never done that before, Castle."

The older man narrowed his eyes. "I've never had to buy so much coffee before." Sharing a smile with the brunette woman at his side one last time, the author quickly turned and dialed his favorite coffee shop. "Danny? Yeah, I need five more coffees please." Catching the looks the detectives he had been working with for a few years, he grimaced. "Make that eight."

Emily paused, her eyes immediately flickering from the man who had been so kind to her and her team to the whiteboard where all the victims' pictures were posted. "That's it."

Hotch looked up from the file in his hand and frowned. "What?"

"Garcia gave us the lists of chores they all did and places they went from a week to fifteen days before they were all abducted and pronounced missing." She walked up to the board and pointing to the very first victim. "Samantha George had gone shopping with her daughter and then to Lexis' Shop on Broadway, a coffee shop, two days she had gone missing. Vanessa Williams had been dropped off by her boyfriend to her favorite coffee shop, The Morning Star, just before walking over to the church where she met her mother. John and Natalie Byers were picked up from school by their father before then stopping by Arch and Beverly's in Time Square." She turned to look at her coworkers. "They were all regulars at coffee shops."

"Prentiss that's nothing out of the ordinary," Hotch pointed out. "Many people go to the same coffee shops every morning."

Castle slowly nodded his head, hanging up his phone. "Even me."

"See?"

"No," the author frowned, his eyes immediately casting over to the Unit Chief of the BAU. "I'm a regular at Arch and Beverly's every morning. That's where I've gotten my coffee for the past six years." He looked to the brunette beauty that he'd been fascinated with ever since she had flown into New York. "They're all in the same chain, owned by Rockie's Corp."

Emily quickly nodded her head, sharing a smile with the author. "That's our connection."


	5. Chapter 5

Looking up from the table that he sat at, Castle's eyes crossed the floor to connect with those of the detective he had been shadowing for the past couple of years. "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was that big of a deal."

Beckett rolled her eyes, opening up the newspaper she had bought from a stand outside. "It's not a big deal, Castle."

"Obviously it is! I'm sorry, alright? I was just trying to be nice."

Before the detective could answer him, her eyes caught the woman in question sitting herself back down at their table, and she quickly ended the phone call. "Hey."

Emily nodded, sensing the tension oozing from the younger woman's stiff body. "Hello. Here's your coffee."

Beckett gave a tight smile. "Thank you."

"Everything alright?"

"Of course," she nodded, quickly setting her cell phone to silent when she felt it vibrate.

Choosing to ignore the detective's tone, Emily quickly set her eyes on the patrons in the coffee shop sitting around her. "Anything?"

Beckett glanced up from the paper, her eyes roaming the shop just as the older woman's were. "Nothing out of the ordinary so far. People are either on their phones or their laptops."

Emily slowly nodded her head, her lips curling around the rim of her mug to take a sip, not noticing Castle's eyes on her for every moment of it. "We don't know when he hunts either, so he might not even be here."

"And if he is hunting at this very moment he could easily be in one of the other thousand coffee shops in New York," the green eyed woman grumbled, taking a big gulp of her hot drink.

Emily's head spun as the table she and the New York detective shook, her eyes widening at the sight of a heavily breathing author gripping the table. "Castle," she hissed, quickly sitting him down in the empty chair at their table. "You're not supposed to be over here."

Beckett glared at the older man. "You are not supposed to be a part of this undercover operation, Castle," she whispered.

"I know," he nodded, "and I'm sorry. But you hung up on me."

"Castle really?"

The author feverishly nodded his head, stealing Beckett's drink to take a sip and moisten his drying mouth. "It's important!"

Emily bit her lip to keep from snapping at the older man beside her, knowing very well that he could be ruining their mission. "Can we talk about whatever this is later please? Whatever it is, it's not the reason we're here."

"I'm sorry," Castle apologized, looking into the eyes of the brunette agent who had anger in her eyes. "You know, this is just like a scene out of my favorite comic book," he chuckled, ignoring the eye roll that Beckett had given him. "Daren Fly is at a bar trying to track down hi-"

"Not the time," Beckett seethed.

The FBI agent shook her head, keeping herself out of the obvious tension that was held between the two of them. "Castle, did you see anything or anyone that seemed out of place? Anything that you haven't seen here every morning?"

Castle took a quick glance around the coffee shop before shaking his head, clasping his hand on the table he sat at. "I don't think so, no."

Emily sighed, nodding slowly as her eyes connected with those of the older man. "Alright. Fifteen more minutes, and if there's nothing then we get back to the precinct to see what everyone else has."

The author found himself smiling as he turned to look around the room, loving the sound of the agent's voice when she grew serious. Pausing at the sight of a gentleman standing near the doorway of the coffee shop with a laptop in his hands, Castle shook his head. "Emily? Beckett? Look over there."

The New York detective quickly followed the line of sight. "Do you know him?"

"I've never seen him here before," he denied.

Emily frowned, watching as the thirty-something year old man with a shaved head held his laptop close to his chest, his eyes shielded with the lenses of his sunglasses. "He's surveilling," she said quietly, sitting up straighter in her chair.

Castle looked to the younger woman. "Does that mean he's our guy?"

"No," she quickly denied.

"He could just be a creep."

Emily nodded, setting down her coffee. "Exactly." Her eyes were hard on the man standing just by the door, noticing every micromovement he made without him even knowing he made them. "Let's go."

Beckett looked to the older woman that sat across from her. "We can't arrest him, we don't have anything on him. He's just a man in a coffee shop."

Emily immediately shook her head, standing from her chair when the man they had been observing looked her way before taking of through the entrance door. "He saw us and he's running! Move!"

The only man in the group didn't hesitate to run with the brunette women, keeping just in time with them as they chased the younger man down Manhattan's busiest street way.

"NYPD!" Beckett screamed, picking up her pace to keep up with the FBI agent beside her. "Stop!"

Emily took in a deep breath as they chased the man in question into an alleyway, taking her gun out of holster and aiming it at suspect. "FBI. Put your hands in the air! Now!"

Turning at the sound of screaming voices behind him, the unknown man pulled out a gun as fast as the speed of light and fire off a shot, not waiting to see who he hit or where before taking off.


	6. Chapter 6

"Don't," the brunette fumed, batting the author's hand away from her. "Don't touch my arm."

Castle quickly shook his head, his eyes widening at the fury he saw in the younger woman's eyes. He held up his hands in surrender before setting the icepack he had gotten for her just beside her on the couch. Best not to anger a woman with a gun. "I'm sorry."

Emily bit back a sigh before shaking her head. "No, I'm sorry. These pain killers just aren't doing their job," she grumbled.

Sitting down on his coffee table just before the chocolate eyed woman, Castle grinned. "At least you're not dead, right?"

Emily had to smile the gentlest she could at the older man's obvious attempt to try and make her feel better, although it did nothing but send her in the opposite reaction. "Thanks," she snorted, sitting up against the couch in the author's living room. "Do you mind if I just go and get some water from the kitchen?"

"Let me."

The FBI agent immediately stood, following the older man across the room. "No Castle, it's really ok. I can ge-"

"No, I've got it," he insisted, opening up the refrigerator to get Emily a bottle of iced cold water. "It's ok, you don't even know where anything is. I have it."

Emily bit down hard into her bottom lip as she leaned against the island, staring at the back of the older man's head as he took one of the expensive bottles of water that he always bought for the house and poured it into a glass for her. Waiting until he turned around to hand her the cup, she stiffly nodded her head. "Thank you."

Castle frowned. "You ok?"

"Yes," she sighed, flipping her hair out of her eyes before sipping at the drink she had been given. "I'm sorry." She knew that she was being harsh to the author, and knowing that it wasn't his fault that she was angry and hurt. He wasn't the one that had shot her. "I just don't like not being able to do anything, you know?"

The father of one smiled encouragingly to the younger woman, his eyes flickering to the cast that held her arm tight against her chest. "Does it hurt?"

"A little."

He watched as she sent him a smirk, and he set a hand to her back as he led her back into his living room. "I'm glad the bullet didn't actually penetrate your arm though," he nodded, sitting just beside her on the couch.

Emily forced herself to keep her grunt bottled inside as she leaned forward and set her glass on the table. "Just a graze."

"A graze that took off practically all of your skin underneath your shoulder."

The brunette woman arched a brow, her eyes connecting with those of the father that had let her team stay at his home while they were on the case. "Did you not just say that it was better than what it could have been?"

"I did," he agreed, smiling wide to the younger woman. "And then I added to it."

"Negatively."

Castle shrugged his shoulders. "And?"

Emily let out a laugh, loving the feeling that the older man was giving her; making her feel as if she wasn't in this predicament at all. "So what are we supposed to do?" she sighed, putting her head in her hand. "We were specifically told not to work the case."

"Well," the older brunette drawled, picking up his laptop from the table and setting it in his lap. "Agent Hotchner said for you not to work the case, not me."

"How does that not apply to both of us? You're the one who's supposed to be watching me."

Castle let his sparkling eyes flicker over to the younger woman as he smiled, moving his pointer finger over the keypad to turn on the screen. "I am the writer. I know how to get around the rules and find loopholes."

The chocolate eyed woman grinned to the author, curling her finger so he'd lean closer to her. "So does an FBI agent," she husked, watching as his eyes immediately dilated. She smirked, knowing that she had him.

"Right," he nodded, clearing his throat as he looked back to the screen. "So the case."

"The case," the brunette chuckled, scooting closer to him to look at what he was pulling up. "That'd be good."


	7. Chapter 7

Beckett wrung her hands as she stared up at the rough sketch they had drawn of the suspect. Her heart had stopped when he had fired a shot, and instead of chasing him down to take him into custody, both she and Castle had focused their attention on the FBI agent that had fallen to the ground.

Just because she was a little peeved about Castle giving the brunette more attention than her didn't mean she wanted her shot.

Turning, she looked to Ryan who sat at his desk with the file open in front of him. "Anything?"

Ryan looked up from his desk. "What?"

"Do we have anything," the detective pressed. "Facial recognition?"

He looked up to his teammate with a frown, closing the case file he had been going over. "We haven't been running that."

Beckett's jaw dropped. "Why not?"

"The BAU's technical analyst is running facial recognition because our system didn't pick him up. Where have you been?" The New York detective watched as his partner's eyes slowly went around the room as she wracked her brain for the conversation that they all had supposedly had. "Are you ok?"

Looking back to the detective, Beckett nodded her head. "Yeah no, I'm fine. Sorry."

Ryan slowly nodded his head, standing up from his seat as the BAU team came flooding back into the bullpen.

JJ rushed into the room, taking a magnet from the white board and using it to hold the new sketch that one of the artists the precinct had drawn up for them. Turning her head to look at the only woman in homicide. "Is this him?"

"To a 't'," she nodded, stepping forward to look at the sketch. "That's him."

Reid stared as long as he could at the pencil sketch, his heart pounding at the thought of the mystery man shooting at his best friend.

"So let me get this straight," the Unit Chief strained. "You, Agent Prentiss and Richard Castle found our suspect and possible Unsub in a coffee shop, chased him down into an alleyway until he shot at my subordinate." His eyes hardened on the detective that he had sent out with his best agent, still raging from hours before when he got the call that Emily was being taken to the ER. "Why didn't you chase him?"

Beckett crossed her arms defensively over her chest as the older man continued to stare her down. "Excuse me?"

Both detectives and agents stepped back from the two, their lips sealed as to not make a sound. No one wanted to get in the middle of the battle.

Hotch's jaw clenched, his eyes never leaving those of the brunette woman who had been undercover with his agent. "My agent was down and that was something your writer friend could have easily handled by calling an ambulance or contacting me, and then you could have run down the suspect and put him in handcuffs. Instead, you decided to make a two person job out of one that was meant for far less. You could have easily cost us this investigation."

Enraged, Beckett stepped forward with fire in her eyes. "Pardon me sir, but I was only trying to help your agent."

"Did you not hear a word I said, detective?"

"Yes, I heard you loud and clear," she answered. "And if I may say, you should not be worrying about a man who may or may not be the killer we're looking for, but that your FBI agent is now out of the game because of a bullet wound. You're an agent down and all you can do is gripe at me."

Montgomery came charging out of his office, his hand itching to take his gun from his hip. "Enough. Nothing being done here is helping our investigation, now I suggest you all get back to work." Moving his gaze from his best detective to the superior of the team he had let into his department. "Agent Hotchner, a word?"

...

Emily grinned at the older man who sat by her side, watching as he did his best to shuffle the deck of cards for the fifth time that minute. "Come on," she laughed, curling her legs tighter against her body. "If you don't get it this time then you're never going to get it."

"Excuse your sass," the author chuckled, his eyes never leaving the cards in his hands. "I'm trying to take your mind off of your arm and all you do is gripe."

The ivory woman rolled her eyes. "You know, if you mention it then my mind can't get off of it."

Castle grimaced, turning to lie the cards on the coffee table that they sat in front of. "Well it wouldn't have been put back on the subject if you just let me try and finish my trick."

"Oh sugar, if you don't snatch him up then I will."

The cards immediately flew from Castle's hands, his eyes wide at the abrupt voice that came from the phone they laid on the table while they distracted themselves. "Jesus."

Emily chuckled, picking up her cellphone and holding it between her and the author. "What do you have, Garcia?"

"I think you'll be happy to know that I found your man," she grinned as she continue to type, bringing up the man's ID onto her computer screen. "His name is Gordon Gates and he's thirty-two years old, works at a computer company."

"Explains the laptop," she nodded, sharing a look with the man at her side. "Criminal record?"

Garcia's head bobbed up and down as she brought up the next file that had been hiding behind Gordon's ID on her computer. "When he was five he was found in his backyard with his pet cat dead in his hands. It had been drown in a tub of water before he had taken it outside where he was in the process of cutting off its paws."

Seeing the father of one's grimace, Emily looked down to her phone. "Upbringing of a killer. Psychopath," she sighed. "Anything else?"

"Nada."

"Ok, send all of his records to Hotch and the team. We'll check any lists of firearms purchases or recent spendings that have his name on them."

The blond haired woman smirked. "I'm on it like you're on that man of yours."

Emily couldn't help but smile as she rolled her eyes, ignoring the look Castle was giving her from his cushion. "Goodbye Garcia."

Castle cleared his throat, hesitating before sitting forward. "Your friend is..."

"Yeah," she nodded, picking up her glass of water with a grin. "She definitely is."


	8. Chapter 8

Looking up at the sound of her phone going off for the third time that minute, Emily's dark eyes squinted. Why would JJ continue to call her if she knew that Hotch had taken her off the case because of her injury? She quickly picked up her phone and got up off of the couch, leaving the author she had been staying with on the couch to continue searching up their suspect. "Hello?"

"Em what the hell? I've been calling you forever."

Emily rolled her eyes as she sat herself down at the kitchen's island, her casted arm on the cool marble. "What do you need, Jay?"

JJ shook her head, walking away from the bullpen to the bathrooms. "Emily, you will not believe what happened. Hotch was completely pissed that you were shot, an-"

"I was only grazed," she stressed. "I'm fine."

"Anyway," the younger woman grumbled, "he completely made Kate bleed out of her ass for not chasing down the guy you three were in pursuit of. Instead when she helped you up when you were shot, s-"

"Grazed," the brunette smirked, knowing she was getting on her friend's nerves.

JJ bit her tongue to keep from lashing out at the other agent. "By helping you, she basically ruined the entire investigation. Hotch and Montgomery have been talking for a half an hour now."

Emily let out a small his, feeling sorry for the younger brunette that had been so harsh to her. "She was just trying to help."

"His argument was that in helping you when Castle could have done it by himself, we could have lost our only lead in this case."

"Yeah," the chocolate eyed woman sighed. "I get that too."

"Ugh," JJ grimaced, holding a hand over her stomach. "I'll call you back, ok? The baby is causing my stomach to do summersaults."

Emily immediately nodded her head, hanging up her phone so her friend could rush to the bathroom once again. Swiping her tongue over her bottom lip, she stood herself back up to make her way back into the living room where the author was sitting. "So? Anything?"

Castle didn't even take his eyes off of the computer screen. "Not yet," he denied, his fingers clicking away at his keyboard. "Who was that?"

"JJ," she coughed, sitting herself down beside the older man. "She told me that your partner is really is trouble with my boss and Montgomery." The ivory woman nodded her head at the concerned look that Castle shot her. "They think she messed up the investigation by helping me instead of chasing down the suspect."

"Yeah, I can kind of see that."

Emily bit her lip, her eyes connecting with those of the brunette man who had made her and her team feel so welcome. "I don't want to pry, but do you know why she's been so tension driven towards me? I know it has something to do with you," she laughed, "because every time you come near me she gives me these death stares."

Castle took a breath as he set the laptop on the coffee table, turning his body to face the younger woman. "She doesn't mean to be that way. There's just some left over stuff between she and I that we haven't had the time to resolve just yet."

"Do you mind me asking what about?"

The older man quickly shook his head. "Not at all," he denied. "Kate and I, a few months back, had begun a relationship."

Emily gave an understanding nod, setting her fist against her head, her elbow sinking into the top of the couch. She had figured as much.

"We had broken up only two months into it because, well it just wasn't working out." Castle felt his face muscles contort as he grimaced, looking to the younger brunette that sat by his side. "Now she saw me getting a little close to you and it brought up our old problems, and she's gotten a little peeved."

Tilting her head, the chocolate eyed agent kept her eyes trained on the older man. "I'm sorry things didn't work out between you two."

Castle shook his head, grinning at the sympathy he heard in the FBI agent's voice. "Thank you, but it's really not necessary. We just weren't mean to be."

"Nice way with words," she chuckled, taking her hand that wasn't restrained by her cast and pushing at her new friend's arm. "Guess that's the writer in you," she winked. "Can't seem to turn it off?"

The blue eyed man smiled at the sight of Emily's grin that was sent his way. "What is with you and the sass? Can't seem to turn that off?"

Emily didn't try to stop the snort that flew from her nose, her fingers running across the gentle wrinkles in her forehead that appeared when her nose scrunched. "Now look who's sassy."

Castle just watched as the younger woman laughed, her eyes sparkling and nose scrunching in that adorable way it did when she found something amusing. She was beautiful. "So how about dinner?" he asked, sitting himself up straighter. "It'll be time soon and I make a great Tuna Primavera."

"Do you really?" The younger brunette grinned to her friend. "That's one of my favorite dishes."

"Then that's exactly what I'll be making," he beamed.


	9. Chapter 9

Serving a spoonful of his famous Tuna Primavera onto his daughter's plate, Castle did his best to listen in to the conversation going on in his dining room. Both the FBI and NYPD were sitting in his home to discuss the parameters of the case, both Agent Hotchner and Beckett sitting at separate ends of the table because of their earlier argument. "That enough?"

"Yeah, I-"

"No," he quickly interrupted, taking another scoop of the dinner he had made for everybody and placing it on his daughter's plate. "You need more."

Alexis closed her eyes, fighting the eye roll that she knew was coming before putting on a smile. "Thanks," she breathed, spinning on her heel and walking back over to the dining room.

The injured FBI agent looked up from her plate and smiled at the man who had let them stay in his home, her fingers still curled around the shining silver fork. "Castle, this is amazing."

"Thank you," he grinned. Making his way over to the dining table, he sat just across from the beautiful brunette woman, Beckett to his left and the pregnant FBI agent on his right. "It's a recipe that I inherited from my grandmother."

"The bitch."

Castle let out a breath, seeing all the heads turn to his mother that sat at the head of the table. "She was the best grandmother," he nodded.

Martha just shrugged her shoulders, looking down the table to try and catch her son's eye. "The best, huh? Is that correct?" She snorted, glancing to the genius FBI agent that sat to her right. "She was conniving, that's what she was. You remember that time she threw my bunny slippers into the goodwill?" Her red curls bounced as she nodded to her son. "Remember?"

"No mother, I wasn't alive then. Remember?"

Emily bit her lip, glancing down to her food so no one could see her smile.

"Anyway," Castle's mother pressed, "she did, and we've never been the same since."

Castle quickly nodded his head, his fork pointing to the redheaded woman. "Maybe that's because you're so good at holding grudges."

"Maybe. But we'll never know."

Sharing a smirk with his daughter, the author shook his head. "Well I hope you all enjoy. So what else was found today? In the profile, or in the investigation as a whole."

Hotch kept his eyes off of the New York detective that he had gotten into an argument with earlier that day before shaking his head. "Other than the sketch that was provided by your partner there is nothing new. We're still trying to figure out the last parts to put into our profile."

"Is there anything such as a rough profile?"

"Yes," Emily nodded, stabbing a piece of tuna with the spikes of her fork. "But it's better to give a profile when we know more about the Unsub and we know that everything will be more accurate."

Martha frowned, chewing gently at the piece of pasta she had taken off of her plate. "Unsub?"

"Unknown Subject. That's what we use to describe the killer when we don't know exactly who it is yet."

Hotch looked up from the file he had set next to his plate and looked down the table to his injured subordinate. "Garcia called to tell me that you were helping with the profile today."

Emily gave a long lick to the corner of her mouth to get the cream that Castle had poured over the pasta off of her lips before looking to her boss. "Yes sir."

"You really helped," he nodded. "Good job."

Picking up her plate, a hesitant Beckett followed the BAU' Unit Chief into the kitchen. "Sir?" she questioned, sticking her plate into the dishwasher just as he did his. "May I speak with you for a minute?"

The brunette man shared a look with the detective before nodding his head, leading her into the living room so they could have some privacy.

Emily let Morgan clear her plate from the table so she could pick up her glass of water, knowing that she wouldn't be able to carry both things with her sling holding her arm to her chest. "Jay? You feeling ok?"

The pregnant woman smiled. "Great," she nodded, taking the glass from her friend's hand and rinsing it out before putting it into the dishwasher. "Only got sick twice today, and I think the tuna is helping."

"The tuna helps? Really?"

"Yeah," she frowned. "It's weird. Anyway, are you ready to turn in?"

Emily sighed before nodding her head, sending a small smile to the owner of the home before following the blond woman up the stairs to their shared room. "These pain meds are screwing with my routine," she yawned, closing the door behind them and taking one of her sleep shirts from her go-bag.

JJ smirked at the sight of her friend getting all of her clothes for bed. "So? How was your day alone with Richard Castle?"

"Why did you say it like that," she laughed, letting the younger woman help her take off her sling so she could take off her shirt. "It was just another day."

"A day where you spent it alone with a handsome, famous writer who has the hots for you."

Emily knew she must have made a face because the younger woman immediately began laughing. "I think your hormones are a little out of whack, Jen. He is not interested in me."

"Have you not seen the way he acts around you?"

"He's nice," she scoffed, giving a quick 'thank you' to her friend as she slipped her shirt over her head as gently as she could. "He's just that kind of a guy, you know? Very sweet."

JJ rolled her eyes, helping her best friend with her pajama shirt so they could both slip into bed. "Whatever you say."


	10. Chapter 10

Hearing the sound of footsteps stomping down the steps towards her, Emily turned away from the refrigerator and tilted her head just enough to look up towards the second floor. "Hey," she chuckled groggily, her eyes not as open as they usually were because she had just woken up. "What are you guys doing?"

Hotch glanced towards his subordinate before grabbing his briefcase that sit near the front door. "Twelfth precinct called saying they had our suspect in custody. Security guards caught him standing outside an apartment building downtown and found a gun on him. We're headed down to the police department now."

Emily gave a small nod, hiding her yawn as she closed the refrigerator door. "May I g-"

"You're to stay here. Understood?"

The brunette agent bit her tongue before nodding her head, her eyes connected with those of her supervisor. "Yes sir."

Castle stumbled down the steps of his home with his eyes half open, the top of his pajama shirt unbuttoned and wrinkled from him jumping out of bed. "What? What's going on? Is it a fire?" He quickly picked up the fire extinguisher near the bottom of the stairs and ran into the kitchen. "I got it!"

Emily was quick to hold her hand out and stop the older man from charging into her. "Whoa," she yelled just a little too loud, her hand against his chest to keep him from stepping forward. "There's no fire, everything's fine."

"Yeah?" The author blinked a few times before the blurriness was gone from his sight, looking down to the brunette woman who stood in his kitchen. "Oh hi."

"Hi," she chuckled breathily, her eyes casting down to his exposed chest. She quickly took her hand from his shirt and nodded, sipping at the water she had gotten for herself. "Everything ok?"

Castle nodded, glancing back towards the door that slammed behind the agents. "Yeah. Where'd they go?"

Emily took in a breath. "Precinct. Hotch said that a couple of security guards found our suspect outside an apartment building downtown holding a gun, so they took him in. They're headed down to the police department now to interrogate him."

"Oh I wanted to go."

The FBI agent smiled at the actual disappointment written over the older man's features. "You like the interrogations?"

"Of course," he nodded, going back to the stairs to put the fire extinguisher back in its place. "Beckett always lets me sit in, and sometimes I get to question them. It's fun."

"Other than the fact it's about trying to find the murderer, then I guess yes it is pretty fun."

Castle grinned at the younger woman that stood before him, opening up the refrigerator to grab an apple from one of the drawers. "There's that sass again," he laughed, shaking his head as he took a bite of his apple. "How am I gonna stop that from happening?"

Emily felt herself blush underneath the author's intense gaze. "I don't think that's possible," she whispered, her fingers curling even tighter around her glass as Castle stepped forward. "I'm a very hard person to try and change."

"Oh I wouldn't dream of changing you," he denied. "Then you wouldn't be perfect anymore."

Before the chocolate eyed woman could respond, her breathing quickening as Castle seemed to leaned towards her, a stomping from the staircase pulled her focus away from him and towards the offending sound.

"Emily I thought you were getting me juice."

The ivory agent bit her lip to keep her laugh contained inside of her, watching as the groaning pregnant woman plopped onto the last step. "I thought you went back to sleep."

"You were wrong," she grumbled.

Emily sent an apologetic look to the author before her as she took the bottle of juice she had gotten out of the fridge for her friend and following her up the stairs. "Once you drink this you'll be fine."

JJ rolled her eyes, not even noticing the moment she had interrupted between the other agent and Castle, who was watching them as they went back up to the room he had let them stay in. "Whatever."

Emily's eyes popped open at the feeling of someone bumping into her, the back of her right hand settling on the teenager's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Alexis," she laughed. "It's too dark in here to see where I'm going."

"No it's ok," she yawned. "It's fine." Walking down the stairs to get to the kitchen, she sent a wave back to the two women. "Night mom number three."

The brunette woman felt her jaw hit the floor at the words. "Excuse me?"

"Nevermind!"


	11. Chapter 11

Castle's fingers tightened around his favorite pen as he looked up from the newest piece of information he had found on their suspect, smiling at the sight of the injured FBI agent finally making her way back down the stairs of his home. "Look who's awake."

Emily rolled her eyes, not even trying to fight the smile that appeared on her face. "Good morning to you too." She took the coffee he handed her with a thankful nod, sitting herself down beside him. "What time is it anyway?"

"Five after nine," he answered, his eyes on the younger brunette. "Your Unit Chief just called and said that our suspect, Gates, hasn't spoken a word in the hours he's been in interrogation."

"He's said nothing at all?"

Castle shook his head.

"Didn't even ask for a lawyer?" she questioned, her good hand holding tight onto the mug's handle. "Well he definitely has some part in it, not wanting to answer any questions."

Setting down his pen, the author of twenty-seven New York Times best sellers looked to injured woman at his side with affection dancing in his eyes. "I'm sorry, about this morning." He hated himself for bringing this up, scared if Emily hadn't even noticed what he had tried to do earlier that day, but he forced himself to press on. "I didn't mean for that to happen."

Emily bit hard into her bottom lip, taking a sip of her drink to do her best to give herself some time to think of what to say. "You don't have to apologize for anything." She shook her head. "Nothing happened though, it almost happened."

"Right," he nodded feverishly. "Almost happened, that's what I meant to say."

"You know, it was all those hours ago; really early in the morning. My brain doesn't even work until past eight really," she chuckled, wanting the older man to know that he didn't need to feel awkward about anything.

Castle gave a somewhat tight smile. Obviously the younger woman wasn't even starting to comprehend the feelings that were growing inside of him for her. "Mine doesn't start at least for another hour," he groaned, looking at his watch as Emily's laugh echoed throughout the apartment. "So you still have me beat."

"I guess I do," she winked, letting the author lean towards her to fix the strap of her sling that was falling off of her shoulder.

JJ came down the steps and made her way into the living room, her eyes fixated on the couple that sat just a little too close on the couch with a smile on her face. "Any news?"

Castle's head spun. "Yes!" he coughed, quickly handing the pregnant woman the notebook he had been writing in. "Our suspect hasn't made a peep yet, but Esposito faxed over his criminal record that had been hidden under a different name. Four counts of petty theft, two counts of car jackings and one count of domestic violence taking place in the home that belonged to him and his now ex-wife."

The brunette woman on the couch bit her lip to stop from laughing. "You still fax things?"

"Anyway," he chuckled, "that, along with the murder of the cat when he was younger, goes with the makings of a psychopath."

Emily arched a brow at the man she sat beside. "Really?" She smiled gently, playing with the ends of her growing hair. "And how do you figure that?"

Castle reluctantly looked to the agent that had been teasing him and sassing him from the moment she had arrived in New York. "Your partner Derek told me," he admitted, sharing a smile with the younger woman.

"Ok, if you two are done flirting, we really need to work on the case."

The father of one watched as his injured friend stuck her tongue out at the pregnant blond as she walked away. Hearing the doorbell, he stood from the couch. "Do you need anything?"

"No," Emily quickly denied, shaking it off with a wave of the hand. "Just go and get the door, I'm fine."

Castle sent a small smile to the brown eyed woman before turning and walking to the door, his arm barely able to pull the apartment's door halfway open before the muzzle of a gun was pressed against his forehead.


	12. Chapter 12

Emily's heart stopped at the sight of her friend standing in the doorway, a gun pressed directly against his forehead with a man dressed in black on the other end of it. Sitting up as straight as she could, the injured woman wrapped her hand tight around the back of the couch. What was happening?

Castle let out a gentle gulp, his hand still grasping the doorknob as he looked into the eyes of the man holding the gun against his head. "Hello to you too," he greeted weakly.

"Shut up!"

The author stumbled backwards into the apartment as he was shoved by the stranger, and he slowly held his hands up to show that he wasn't holding any weapons. "We don't want any trouble."

Scoffing at the man who stood before him, he shook his head. "The name is Harvey Daniels," he nodded, keeping the gun pointed at the father of one as he took the backpack off of his shoulder and set it to the floor. "You're Richard Castle."

"I am."

Harvey smirked, his eyes and aim turning towards the kitchen. "Jennifer Jareau, please come and stand beside the couch for me." Waiting until the pregnant blond moved herself into the living room, he made his target the woman in the sling that was sitting on the couch. "And Miss Emily Prentiss. Stand for me?"

The brunette stood on shaky legs, holding her only good hand in the air as the gun was aimed at her. He knew all of their names.

Castle stood strongly in front of the man with the gun, raising his hand just a little higher to put the attention back on him. "Harvey, can I ask why you're here?" He had to try and get this diffused as quickly as it could be because his mother and daughter were still upstairs, completely oblivious to the situation.

"You may not," he denied, shaking his gun as if it were him shaking his head. "But I'm gonna tell you anyway."

Emily kept her lips tightly sealed and her eyes trained on the man who stood before her and her friends threatening their lives, and discreetly began moving from her spot beside the leather couch so she could be next to her scared friend and hold her hand.

"My friend and partner is the man, your suspect, that you've apprehended."

"Gordon Gates," Castle nodded.

Harvey smiled wide at the older man as he leaned down to open up the backpack he had brought with him. "That's right. And seeing as how you have taken my only other line of contact, I now need you to do something for me."

Castle glanced down to the black backpack, trying his best to see what it was that the man with the gun was pulling out of it.

"You know, you kind of messed up all of my plans," the dark haired man laughed manically, finally yanking the black object out of the backpack he had brought to the apartment. "Now, because he can't help me, you will follow everything I tell you to do. You understand me?" Holding up what he had taken out of his bag, his eyes darkened. "Arms down."

Emily felt her breath leave her body at the familiar wires and buttons she saw on the object that was held out in the air.

JJ turned her head just enough to see the apprehension in her friend's eyes. "What? What is it?"

"A bomb," she whispered fearfully, her heart aching as Castle was pulled forward and the device strapped to his chest.


	13. Chapter 13

Grinning as he locked the metal around the author's neck, Harvey looked past the man's barely shaking shoulder and pointed to the brunette woman. "Emily Prentiss. Here now."

Emily reluctantly let go of her friend's hand and made her way towards the two men that stood in front of the door. She kept her hand up to show the intruder that she had nothing to hurt or harm him, stepping just beside the man that had made her feel so comfortable in his home. "What do you want?" she asked, keeping the fear out of her voice.

"I need money," he nodded, training the gun on the author before him. "And you two are the ones who are gonna get it for me."

Castle did his best to keep his features still and his heart calm. "Both of us? Why not just me?"

"Why would it be just you?" the man with the gun chuckled. "You'd go off and get those cop friends of yours to help you."

"But I'm the one with the bomb," the author stressed, his hands still up beside his head.

Harvey immediately lost the grin, his green eyes staring hard into those of the father of one. "You're not the one making the rules." Smirking, he moved the gun in his hand just enough to the right so it was staring Emily in the face. "You two are gonna go Memorial Bank on Lexington, you'll type in the numbers one, four, seven, three, nine, one into one of the teller's phones so you contact the bank manager. Then you ask for two million dollars."

Emily forced herself not to grab the older man's hand, knowing that both of their bodies were shaking with nerves. "What do you need the money for."

"Now that's none of your business."

"Hey hey!" Castle yelled, his blood boiling as Harvey jerked the gun in Emily's direction to make her jump. "Cut it out."

Harvey's eyes darkened on the older man, raising a brow as he reached into his pocket and pressing the only button on the remote control.

The countdown had begun.

Grinning at the gasp he heard leave the pregnant woman's mouth, the green eyed man nodded his head. "You two will be back in precisely one hour, or Jennifer will get a bullet to that growing stomach of hers."

Emily cursed herself, her eyes closing to draw back the tears at the thought of her friend and her unborn baby dying because of a mistake she would make. "Ok," she nodded, her brown eyes flickering open to look strongly at the man with the gun. "We'll do it."

"Now any funny business, I will know about it the moment it happens. You do anything and everyone you love will die. Do you understand me?"

Castle gave a small nod of the head. "Perfectly." He took the coat that Harvey threw to him and buttoned it up as gently as he could so he wouldn't disturb the bomb. "Are we good?"

Harvey laughed, taking Emily's injured arm and yanking it out of the sling so he could cuff her to the author. "We're very good."

The moment the couple was out the door, Castle hurried them down towards the elevator and pulled the tearing brunette to his side, his lips pressing timidly against her dark head of hair to calm her down. "I am so sorry. Are you alright?"

"It just hurts," she nodded stiffly, her hand holding tight onto his as they stepped into the elevator. The brunette agent waited until the steel doors closed and they were out of the strange man's sight before looking up to her friend. "Do you have your phone on you?"

Castle didn't even have to think. "He threw mine to the ground."

Emily bit her lip to keep from cursing, her eyes locking onto those in the lobby of the apartment building as the doors slid open. "I couldn't get to mine." She intertwined her fingers with his and followed him out through the building's entrance doors, taking all the curious looks with a heavy heart. "We need to get there fast."

The older man gave a squeeze to his friend's hand as they crossed to the other side of the street. "It's only four blocks away, but getting two million dollars here within an hour is going to be hard."

Emily shook her head. "I don't get it. He knew exactly who we were, and both of us have enough money to pay him off. Why didn't he just ask us for it?"

"No idea," he sighed, pulling the younger woman along and up onto the next sidewalk. "But we're going to do exactly what he says."

The brunette agent looked up to the author at her side with her dark doe eyes, tears still stinging at the corners. "Alexis and Martha were right upstairs," she whispered, knowing that Castle's heart was breaking with every other step they took. "They were lucky they didn't come down."

Castle felt a lump forming in his throat at the thought of his two favorite girls getting shot by the man in his home. "I know."

Emily took in a breath as she reached for the bank's door handle, her fingers wrapping around the cool metal and yanking open the heavy glass door. She walked in stride with Castle, cutting to the front of the line to get to the first teller's window. "We need to use your phone."

The twenty-two year old gave a gentle shake of the head. "I'm sorry miss but pedestrians are not allowed to use bank telephones."

Unbuttoning the first five rows on his jacket, Castle was able to move the fabric over enough to show the blond the numbers that were ticking away. "We need to use your phone. Now." Waiting until he heard the sound of Emily's fingers punching in the numbers that they were told, the author looked to the obviously scared woman. "Would you happen to have a big pair of hedge clippers or trimmers?" He gave a small smile at the sight of confusion on the young woman's face. "Yes," he nodded, "I am completely serious."


	14. Chapter 14

"What don't you understand," Emily hissed, her hold tight on the bank's telephone. "We need two million dollars in less than fifty minutes before your bank and locked vault become scrap metal."

Castle kept his hand wrapped around the younger woman's as he nodded to the teller behind the counter. "Anything? Clippers? Cutters?"

The twenty-two year old shook her head, her heart still racing as the security guards in the building continued to escort all of the clients and brokers who had been in the conference room for the past half hour. "Sir I'm sorry but we don't keep those things here."

"Are you sure? What about pliers?"

Emily took the phone in her hand and slapped it against the older man's arm, her eyes glaring up to him as she heard him continue to bother the poor woman behind the counter. "Quit it," she hissed.

Castle let his eyes connect with hers for only a moment before looking back up to the teller. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "What about a letter opener?"

Thanking the man on the other end of the line, Emily practically slammed the receiver back into the telephone console in frustration. "He said that he'd do his best to get the money here within a half an hour, and a bomb squad is on it's way." Looking up to her friend, the injured brunette shook her head. "And what the fuck is with the questions? Seriously, what do any of those things have to do with our situation?"

"Do you not see the bar around my neck?"

Emily quickly nodded her head. "Yeah. And?"

"If we get this pried off of my neck then when the bomb squad gets here, we wouldn't be anywhere near it. Everyone would be safe," he nodded, his hand squeezing the beautiful woman's just that much harder. "We'd be safe, Emily."

The brunette woman felt her heart ache at the hope the author had in those sparkling blue eyes, and all she could do was nod her head. She couldn't disappoint him and tell the older man that the odds of them getting out of the situation alive was of the slimmest chances. "Ok," she whispered. "Let's try it."

A man came rushing out of the backroom and handed the teller that had let them finally use the phone a pair of large hedge clippers that the gardener had been using that day to trim the tall plants that had always sat beside the bank's entrance doors. "How about these, Tammy?" He looked to the man with the bomb strapped to his chest, his eyes widening as he watched the glowing red numbers on the device continue to blink away. "Sir? Will this work?"

"Yes!" Castle smiled, a relieved laugh escaping his throat. "That should be perfect."

Emily looked at the man behind the desk as if he had grown another head. "You actually had hedge clippers?"

"Yes ma'am."

Emily grit her teeth, her eyes sending a dark glare to the bank employee before the man she was handcuffed to turned her around so their backs were facing the counter. "I'm not a ma'am," she grumbled.

Castle used his free hand to gesture to the metal bar that was hung around his neck, turning his head just slightly to see the man with the clippers in his hand. "Try and cut through the metal, would you? And try not to get the back of my neck," he stressed. "I just got a haircut."

The timid man behind the counter hesitated before shaking his head. "I can't. I don't want to get near that thing."

"You're already near it," the brunette agent hissed, her arm aching as it continued to swing with every move she and the older man made. "Please just help us."

Hearing the telephone ring, the twenty-two year old woman quickly picked up the receiver and turned her back on the situation going on in front of her.

"What if I chop your head off?" he cried, the hedge clippers shaking in his nervous hold.

Emily pressed the palm of her free hand to her forehead, forcing herself to stay calm and take in a deep breath. "If you don't help us and get the bomb off of him then we're all going to die, ok? You need to calm down and try to pry it off. Please," she almost sobbed, her hand tightening around her friend's. "Please just help us get it off."

Tammy quickly hung up the phone, her hands shaking as she watched her coworker get a better grip of the tool that he held onto. "That was an Agent Jareau. She said that Harvey was dead and the remote that was used to start up the timer doesn't have another button."

"Harvey's dead?"

The blond woman nodded her head. "Shot in the head."

Castle let out a breath at the news, his eyes closing tight as he felt the metal sheers on the clippers move closer to the back of his neck. "Ok I'm scared."

Emily bit her lip, turning so her chest and pressed into his side and her free hand moving up to cup his cheek. "We're gonna be ok," she whispered, pressing a small kiss to his chin as the man with the clippers slipped the sheers around the metal bar. "Just breathe, ok? We're gonna be ok."

"It's not working," the young man bit out, his face turning a bright red as he used all the strength he had to try and cut the metal bar in two.

The ivory woman cursed the tears coming to her eyes, her body quickly turning and reaching out to the woman behind the counter. "Just give me a pair of scissors."

Castle frowned, waiting until the hedge clippers were actually away from his neck before turning along with the brunette by his side. "Scissors?"

"To cut the wire," Emily nodded, taking the pair of shining scissors in her hand before leading the author to the middle of the lobby and sitting them both on the marble floor. "I'm gonna cut the wire of the bomb and hope for the best."

"Hope for the best?" Castle's eyes were bugging out of his head. "What if you clip the wrong one?"

The brunette let out a laugh, a bead of sweat falling from her hairline and dripping town the side of her face. "Then we're definitely screwed."

Castle turned his head and gestured for the two bank workers to exit through the door. "Get out or you won't live to be on the news and talk about this." His eyes hardened, seeing as how neither of them moved an inch to get out of their shocked positions. "Go!"

Emily glanced up to the ceiling as she took in a deep breath to try and calm her racing heart, her fingers gripping at the scissors handle as she looked back down to the wires that popped out of the side of the bomb. "Ok, there are four wires," she sighed, squinting to get a better look at where each of the wires was coming from. "It looks like only one of them are attached to the timer and the rest are down beneath it."

"So that one must be the one to clip, right?"

"I really hope so," she breathed.

Castle used his free hand to cup the back of his friend's head, threading his fingers through her dark hair and setting their foreheads together. "I'm ready if you're ready." Seeing the look of fear that the younger brunette had in her eyes, he quickly tried for a smile. "But if you want to wait until we're down to the wire then that's ok too. More time to process, you know?"

Emily couldn't even hold back the chuckle that escaped her lips, their cuffed hands still holding tight onto one another's as she threaded the green wire in between the two blades of the scissor. "Ready?"

"Ready," he nodded.

Clutching the author's hand as if it would fall off without her grasping it, the injured agent closed her eyes in time with the older man and held her breath. Then she clipped the wire.

Emily's eyes popped open, her heart finally beginning to beat again at the sight of those red numbers that had taunted them both finally paused. They had stopped the bomb. "We did it."

"We did it!" the father laughed, his arm wrapping around his friend's slouching body and pulling her right up against him. "Oh my God, I think I had a mini heart attack."

Emily let her tears finally flow down her cheeks, a strangled laugh jumping out of her chest as the scissors fell from her hand, the sound of the metal clamoring against the marble floors.


	15. Chapter 15

Emily's eyes flickered up from the fresh gauze that had been taped against her just slightly tanned skin, a smile spreading over her face and her dimples popping out at the sight of the man she had been getting to know that case. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

The older man let out a laugh, sitting himself down beside her on the side of the master bathroom's infinity tub. "I think I should be asking you the same thing."

Emily's eyes hardened. "So ask me."

Castle grinned at the laugh that immediately escaped the agent's lips, his shoulder bumping against hers. "Does your arm feel better?"

"Kind of," she nodded, blushing just enough for her cheeks to tint at the feeling of Castle's pinky lying just over hers. "JJ force fed me those pain killers."

The pregnant woman looked up, her brow arched as she looked to the giggling pair. "I'm right here, smartass."

Emily sent a sweet smile to the woman who was patching her graze, making her dark doe eyes sparkle the way she knew that everyone loved. "Sorry," she whispered cutely, letting the younger woman slap at her hand. Turning to the man by her side, she bit her lip. "So did you hear what happened?"

"What do you mean?"

"Alexis. She's the one who shot Harvey."

The blue eyed brunette frowned, his heart stopping at the thought his baby girl pulling a gun. She had killed a man. "How?"

Emily hooked her pinky with the older man's, hating to see the fear tender petrification behind those loving eyes. "She and Martha were luckily still upstairs, and she found the gun that you hide under your bed. She snuck onto the staircase and made a clean shot right through the temple."

"My daughter shot someone." The author's jaw felt tight, his muscles clenching. "She actually killed him."

"You have a great girl," she whispered, her hand coming up to rub his shoulder for support. "What she did saved all of our lives. She saved the life of an unborn baby. Do you know what a strong girl you've raised."

Castle slowly blinked his eyes, his chin coming to rest atop the younger woman's dark hair. "Thank you," he whispered hoarsely, neither he nor she noticing the other agent that had been in the bathroom with them exiting and leaving them alone. "Do you need help down the stairs?" Looking down to the younger woman, he quickly nodded his head at her smile. "I'd be able to help you."

Emily grinned, letting him help her stand from her seat on the side of the tub. "Sure," she chuckled, feeling his arm wrap around her shoulders as gently as possible as not to disturb her arm that sit in its sling. Once they got to the top of the stairs, her brows furrowed when she was forced to a stop. "What?" Her jaw dropped when she was immediately lifted into the air, her one good arm wrapping tight around the author's neck as he cradled her. "What are you doing," she laughed, her eyes crinkling as the chuckles wracked her body.

The older man smiled against his friend's silken hair as he slowly made his way down to the first floor. "I told you I would help you down the stairs," he grinned, nodding at the look that Emily sent him. "I don't lie."

"You're not a lie," Martha nodded from the kitchen, raising her glass to the couple as they came down the final steps. "Just a man whore."

Castle looked wide eyed to the redheaded woman as he set the FBI agent down to the ground, hearing the distinct sound of the famous author on the BAU team choke on the beer he had been drinking. "Thank you, mother," he said through clenched teeth, letting Emily leave his hold and wander into the kitchen. "Have you seen Alexis?"

"Up in her room, darling."

Emily gave a reassuring nod to the author, sharing a smile before she watched him run back upstairs to speak with his daughter.

Martha sat herself down at the kitchen island with her glass of wine stuck in her hand, her head tilting as she watched the injured FBI agent go to the fridge and take out a bottle of water. "So Emily, how are you feeling after everything?"

"I'm alright," she nodded, giving a thankful look to the dark man on her team as he took the bottle from her so it could be opened. "Not the first time it's happened."

"And with my son? How are you feeling about that?"

Emily's perfect eyebrows scrunched together, those dark eyes looking to the older woman she stood across from. "I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you're talking about."

"Oh darling please," she chuckled, her free hand waving around in the air. "That man has been married to two other women and never did I see the love in his eyes when he looks at you appear before. You tell me what that means."

The younger woman felt her breath leave her at the words. "I don't know what to tell you," she whispered, shrugging gently. "I did just save his life."

Martha stood, seeing the reluctance to accept the truth written all over the agent's body. "Emily, nothing that he feels for you is because of some bomb scare," she sighed, moving the woman's dark hair from her eyes. "I think you need to take another look at those feelings. Know they're real."

Emily could do nothing but suck her bottom lip between her teeth and walk away from everyone that was surrounding her in the kitchen, her chest aching at the thought that maybe everything that had been said wouldn't be truth."


	16. Chapter 16

Castle ran a hand through his disheveled hair as he slouched back down the stairs, his talk with his daughter having lasted two whole hours. The teenager had sobbed on his shoulder for most of the time, and the father had to ask himself why he hadn't spoken with her more right when he had gotten home. He had known she was a bit shaken up about everything, but it took a woman who he had known for only a few days to tell him something completely important that his own daughter didn't want to mention when he had gotten home.

"Hey."

He looked up at the whispered voice, seeing the brunette woman in question stand up from the couch with her arm back in its sling. Knowing how much she hated having it immobile, the agent was probably cursing Gates for shooting her. "Hey," he nodded, walking just past the younger woman and turning on the television. "Where is everybody?"

Being only able to blink at the older man's stiff exterior, Emily held her breath. "Hotch, Beckett and everyone went back to the precinct to get Gates and arrest him."

Castle gave a stiff nod of the head, his hand curling around the remote before he set it back down on the bookshelf where it belonged.

Emily bit her lip as she noticed the quiet nature that the author held. He was never one to be silent. She waited until he came back over to her before sitting down on the couch, her hand reaching out to his once he was seated. "How'd it go?"

"Why didn't she tell me?" His blue eyes casted over to the woman at his side. "I tried to talk to her when I got home and see if she was alright, but she didn't tell me. I had to force it out of her after you told me."

The younger brunette let out a breath, feeling his hand still underneath hers. "She's probably just shaken up."

Castle quickly nodded his head. "No I know that. But I'm her dad," he laughed breathlessly. "I've always been the one to pick her up and the ones she comes to so she can cry it out, but this time she didn't even want to speak to me."

"I completely understand why you're upset," she nodded, scooting closer to the older man on the couch. "But this is something completely different from scraping a knee or breaking up with a boyfriend. She shot a man, Castle. That's not something you get over right away."

"You've done it, haven't you?"

Emily gave the older man a sad smile. "A couple of times; some deadly, some not. But I know how to internalize every little detail of something painful until it really starts to fuck with my head," she chuckled, knowing that the author could see a vulnerability behind her eyes that she never even let her best friends see. "Don't let Alexis become that person. She'll be so screwed in the end if she doesn't let anyone in after traumas like this."

Castle shook his head, his hand finally flipping over and capturing the FBI agent's. "But that's the thing. She shouldn't have to be going through traumas like this. This is all my fault."

"Hey," she chasted, her elbow nudging into that of the author. "This is not your fault. This was the fault of Gates and Harvey, ok? Nothing that you did contributed to this."

"I'm the one who went to the precinct to shadow Beckett and follow her every move so I could get inspiration for my books. Because of that choice on my part, we were involved and that's why he came here."

Emily squeezed his hand as tight as she could, hating to see the hate that Castle held for himself in that moment. "Nothing is your fault Castle. You shadow Beckett because you love writing books and you're good at it. Everything else is nothing compared to what this does for you."

"This almost got my family killed."

"How many other times has things like this happened?" she questioned, forcing his eyes to look down into hers. "Can you honestly tell me that after four years being a part of cases and working at the twelfth precinct that this is the first time you or your family has been put in danger?"

Castle felt himself pause, his eyes staring deep into those of the younger woman as he shook his head.

"And you've never considered leaving before, have you?"

"No," he sighed.

Emily nodded her head, her dark hair falling over her shoulders with the ends settling just atop her breasts. "So there shouldn't be a difference between those situations and this one. Yes, this had Alexis in a very dangerous position, but sadly it might not be the last time that happens throughout her life, with or without you and the precinct in the picture."

Looking to the woman at his side, Castle let an actual smile spread over his face. "You do this a lot for your friends?"

"Do what?"

He let out something that was a cross between a laugh and a sigh, the author's body leaning back into the cushions of his expensive couch. "Talk them down off the ledge," he chuckled, loving the sight of the smile on the brunette's face. "So you keep things in? All the time?"

Emily bit her lip, her eyes casting down to their intertwined hands. "I do."

"Doesn't it begin to hurt?"

The brunette woman gave a sob that sounded as if she were trying to laugh the entire thing off. Feelings, she knew, were nothing to laugh about. "All the time."

Castle leaned toward the younger woman and used his free hand to move her ebony tendrils behind her ear. "I know that you're headed back to Virginia as soon as Gates is processed, but you can always call me to talk about anything. Break down and sob if you need to," he chuckled, the palm of his hand cupping her ivory cheek as one of her dimples popped onto her face. "Just remember that you have my number, ok?"

"I will," she smiled. "Thank you."

Martha grabbed onto her now calm granddaughter's hand and brought her down to the step she had been crouching on, her jaw dropping open when she saw the couple over in the living room finally lock lips for the first time. "And he thought I didn't know it."

The redheaded teenager gave a small chuckle, her puffy eyes looking over to the woman in her father's arms beginning to giggle and hide her face in his neck. "I knew too, you know."

"Yes but I knew first. Always do."


	17. Chapter 17

"What do you want?" Emily groaned, finally looking up from her book to see the smiling teammate that sat across from her on the jet. "You've been kicking at my foot for ten minutes. What the hell is it?"

Derek held up his hands in surrender, leaning back in his seat. "Someone's cranky."

JJ smiled to her friend, rubbing her hand down the older woman's stiff arm as she sent a kick to Derek underneath the small table. "Leave her alone, Derek. She was just fine reading her book."

"Her book that just happens to be written by Richard Castle."

Emily sent a snarky smile to the man across from her. "And? He writes good books, am I not allowed to enjoy them?"

"I never said that you couldn't enjoy them," he laughed. "But seeing as how the book is about him fantasizing about having sex with Detective Beckett, who you obviously didn't seem to get along with, I wouldn't think that that would be the book you'd want to read."

Noticing his subordinate's eyes growing darker by the second, Hotch looked with his brows raised back down to the new file he had taken out of his briefcase. "You're not helping yourself here, Morgan."

Emily held her head up. "I'd listen to him if I were you, Derek." Her eyes went back down to the page she had been reading. "Have you ever known me not to have my gun? I could shoot you right here."

"Oh but then you, Princess, wouldn't have your knight in shining armor anymore."

"I wouldn't mind it," she growled.

Castle had went with the FBI to the airport, along with the entire twelfth precinct, and watched their jet lift off from the tarmac and fly away. He had had an eternal battle with himself to beg the brunette bombshell to stay with him there in New York, but quickly voted against it. Only knowing her for a week and asking her to move to New York just for him was way too fast. And creepy.

So he'd sent her a text the moment she got on the plane, knowing she'd get it the moment she landed back in Virginia. He knew she was going to love it.

"So what exactly are two planning to do?" JJ whispered, leaning in closer so only the older woman could hear. "Are you guys gonna get together?"

Emily's dark eyes flickered over to the pregnant woman that sat at her side, her fingers tightening around the book's hard cover. "I don't really know."

The blond woman reached over to grab her hand and give it a squeeze. "Alexis told me you kissed," she grinned.

Emily rolled her eyes, finally closing the book that Castle had let her take from the special shelf on his bookshelf. "Of course she did. I really don't know what's going to happen because he's in New York and I'm at Quantico. I mean I like him," she smiled, her shoulders shrugging. "But long distance might not work."

"Might not work? Fuck that."

The agent's eyes widened, her head whipping around to see the rest of her teammates and even her superior chuckling at the outburst. "JJ shh!"

Feeling the plane finally land, the wheels hitting the freshly paved tarmac at their greatly used airport, the soon-to-be mother for a second time tightened her hold on the older woman's hand. "You're being ridiculous if you think that right out of the box. You don't know until you try."

"Could that be any more clichéd?" she drawled.

JJ glared at the brunette woman."Ok now you're the one getting annoying."

Picking her stuff up and carrying it with her off of the BAU jet, Emily made sure to keep her injured arm directly against her chest so it was protected as the wind began to hit her. "Who's driving?"

"I will if you'll have me."

Emily's face immediately brightened at the voice, her body spinning around to see the man she and her friend had been talking about standing there with car keys in hand. "Hi," she laughed, letting the author take her into his arms. "What are you doing here?"

"I forgot to ask you," Castle grinned as she giggled in his arms that were minding her shoulder, "about our first date."

The brunette pulled back to look up to the older man's face, her eyes widening when he leaned in and stole a chaste kiss from her lips. "Our first date?"

"It came to me that we never actually planned anything except for phone calls every Saturday night to catch up. That doesn't seem like a relationship to me."

Emily's eyes stung at the smile Castle was sending her. "You want a relationship with me?" she whispered, her chin bumping against his strong chest as he pulled her closer. "We're a couple states apart, Rick. How is that supposed to work?"

Castle pressed his forehead just against hers, ignoring all the agents that had dropped what they were doing to look to them. "You know I like you, and I know you like me too."

"I do."

Castle let out a grin. "And this is why we have to have a first date!"

Emily gave a cackle of a laugh, her good arm wrapping as best as it could around his torso and hooking around his waist. "Ok," she nodded, smiling into the next kiss the older man pulled her into. "A first date. We can do that."


End file.
